Improvement in indicator-locks



A. G. GARTLEY. Indicator-Look.

No. 218,252. Patented Aug. 5,1879.

v llmm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER G. GARTLEY, OF EAST SAGINAV, MICHIGAN.

IMPROVEMENT IN lNDlCATOR-LOCKS.

Specification `forming part ol' Letters Patent No. 218,252. dated August 5, 1879; application tiled mty ce, 1ero.

To all @chem fit 'muy concern:

:2e it known that I, ALEXANDER G. GART- LEY, ot' East Saginaw, in the county of Saginaw and State of lllichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined (lar Lock and Seal, ot' which the following is a specification.

rlhe object of this invention is to save time and trouble in locking and sealing railwaycars, and to provide a handy device by which the station at which a car was last opened may be indicated.

It consists in, tirst, the combination, with a car-lock, ot' a movable pointer upon its outer surface and intermediate devices connecting said pointer with the locking mechanism of the lock, whereby said pointer is held in a liXed position when the lock is closed, and is adapted to be shifted as desired when the lock is open 5 second,the combination,with the hasp of a car-lock and a movable pointer on the outer surface of the lock-case, of intermediate devices through which the pointer is either locked or released, as desired by the operator ot' the said hasp; third, the combination, with the lock-case, having the series of numbers inscribed thereupon, and its loekin g mechanism, of a pointer pivoted to said case and adapted to be brought into coincidence with any ot said numbers, and intermediate devices connecting said pointer and locking mechanism.

ln the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of my improved combined loci; and car seal. Fig. 2 is a view of the interior of the lock. Fig. 3 is an edge view of the top plate of the lock detached. Fig. 4 is a section on line a' x, Fig. l.

The letterA indicates the case, of which A is the face-plate, and B is the pivoted hasp, having the hook b, to engage the spring-dog C, which is operated by a suitable key, in the usual manner. The letter D designates a toothed wheel pivoted upon a short pin projecting from the inner surface of the bach plate of the case. This toothed wheel is provided at its center with a square socket, adapted to receive the squared inner end of a pin, c, which extends through the front plate ot' the lock-case, and has fixed upon its outer end and close to said plate a pointer, F, which revolves about the center of a circular series of numbers inscribed upon the outer surface of the said plate. A lever, G, pivoted on a pin projecting from the inner surface of the back plate, has project-ing laterally from one end a tooth, h, adapted to lit between the teeth of wheel D. The other end of this lever extends into a notch, i, in the pivoted end or' the hasp. Then the hook of the hasp is engaged with the dog C, the notch fi holds the upper end of the lever in such position that the tooth lt engages with the wheel D, extending between two of the teeth thereof', as shown in Fig. 2. When thehasp is disengaged from the dog` and thrown back, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2, the outer wall of the notch forces the end of the lever inward and leaves it, the enlarged end or hub of the hasp then holding the lever disengaged from wheel D, so that said wheel may turn and permit the pointer F to be swung to any number in the circular series. Then, when the hasp is brought into engagement with the dog` again, the notch 'i will catch the lever and throw the tooth h into engagement with the wheel D, locking the same and securing the pointer in coincidence with the number to which it may have been turned.

lt is the custom in railways to designate the various stations by numbers, and in practice the pointer will be turned to and locked at the number of that station where the car is last opened and again locked. This feature of my invention thus supersedes the ordinary separate seal which is usually applied to cars after locking, said seal bearing the number of the station where applied.

Instead of the circular series of numbers on the top plate of the lock, a similar series oll names, letters, or signs may be used 5 and instead of having the notched wheel D sup ported on a pivot projecting from the baci; plate, said wheel may be formed in one piece with the pivot or spindle carrying the pointer.

l. The combination, with a ear-locli, o' a movable pointer upon its outer surface, and inA1 termediate devices connecting said pointer with the locking mechanism of the lock,

whereby said pointer is held in a fixed position when the lock is closed, and is adapted to be shifted as desired when the lock is open, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the hasp of a carlock and a movable pointer on the outer surface of the lock-case, of intermediate devices through which the pointer is either locked or released, as desired by the operator of the said hasp, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the hasp, the toothed lever having one end adapted to be moved by said hasp, the toothed Wheel adapted to engage said lever, and the pointer connected and turning with said Wheel, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the lock-case, having the series of numbers inscribed thereupon, and its locking mechanism, of a pointer pivoted to said case and adapted to be brought into coincidence with any of said numbers, and intermediate devices connecting said pointer and locking mechanism, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of the subscribing witnesses.

ALEXANDER G. GARTLEY.

Witnesses:

EUGENE WILBER, ALLEN R. ENGLISH. 

